Ceiling kit



Jan. 21, 1958 J. p. PORTER, JR

Y QEILING KIT Filed Aug. 28, 1956 IN V EN TOR. JOHN D- PORTER JR.

United States Patent CEILING KIT John D. Porter, In, Rockland, Mass.

Application August 28, 1956, Serial No. 606,611

1 Claim. (Cl. 30-136) This invention relates to kits of tools for redoing ceilings.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a kit of tools which will simplify the task of redoing ceilings and which will permit the decorator to perform the tasks of scraping, rolling the ceiling body and edges from the floor regardless of the height of the ceiling and to eliminate the necessity of using a ladder and in moving the same about.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a kit of tools of the above type wherein the length of the unit is adjustable to the height of the ceiling and wherein novel means are provided for catching the peelings before they strike the floor to eliminate the usual mess associated with ceiling scraping.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a kit of tools of the above type which includes a laterally adjustable scraper tray and which is easily and readily adjustable relative to the scraping tool to permit the working along edges and in corners.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a kit of tools for redoing ceilings which is of simple construction, has a minimum number of parts, is inexpensive to manufacture and efficient in use.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view shown alone of the tray forming a part of the invention and showing the folding legs in the collapsed position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing the invention in operative use as a ceiling scraper preliminary to applying the paint and illustrating the manner in which the scrapings are caught to prevent them from dropping onto the floor; and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a modified form of the present invention shown in operative use.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, represents a plurality of hollow tubular handle segments of aluminum, plastic or other lightweight material integrally formed at one end with the reduced externally threaded extensions 11 and provided at their other ends with the internally threaded couplings 12, the extensions 11 and 12 being interfitted to provide a handle of any desired length and to permit the tools to be used from the floor without the use of a step ladder or the like. An externally threaded plug 13 is provided for the lowermost of the handle segments 10, as will be obvious.

A plurality of tools are provided in the kit for interchangeably using with the handle just described and include a roller 14 for applying paint to the ceiling from the tray 15, the roller 14 being rotatably mounted on the U-shaped rod 16 which terminates in the laterally bent portion 17 which is suitably mounted in the tubular hantile 18 provided at its end with the internally threaded 2,820,290 Patented Jan. 21, 1958 coupling 19 adapted to be screwed onto the uppermost of the handles 10.

The tray is of the type normally employed with paint rollers having one end deeper than the other and is provided with the collapsible, self-locking legs 20 which support the tray when in use and which may be collapsed against the undersurface thereof when not in use for compactness in storage (Fig. 2).

The self-locking, folding legs 20 attached to the paint tray 15 eliminate much bending and reloading the roller 14 from the floor and eliminate the necessity of using a small step ladder to support the paint tray. The roller 14 is of course employed for the body of the ceiling.

An interchangeable roller 21 for rolling edges is rotatably mounted on the U-shaped rod 22 having the laterally bent end 23 which is suitably mounted in the tubular handle 24 being similarly provided with the internally threaded adapter 25 for mounting the same on the uppermost of the handle segments 10. The edge roller 21 is provided with the externally threaded plug 26 for closing the end of the handle when being used alone.

Preliminary to applying the paint to the ceiling, a scraping tool is provided for removing the old paint and includes the handle 27 which mounts at one end the scraping blade 28 in suitable manner, the other end of the handle 27 being internally threaded as at 29 and being adapted to be screwed onto the uppermost of the handle segments 10. An externally threaded plug 30 is provided for the handle 27 when used alone.

The handle 27 is provided with a notch 31 and a mounting opening 32 across which is positioned the clamp 33 having a mounting opening 34 by means of the screw 35 and wing nut 36, a washer 37 being provided intermediate the wing nut 36 and the handle 27, as shown in Fig. 3. The side portions of the clamp 33 are provided with downwardly and forwardly extending rolled edges 34 within which are mounted the ends of the circular wire frame 35, the plane of the frame 35 intersecting the longitudinal axis of the scraper as shown in Fig. 3.

It will be noted that the ends of the frame 35' are bent upwardly as at 38 before joining the shank portions 39 which are received within the rolled edges 34' of the clamp whereby to provide more clearance between the frame 35' and the blade 28.

A disposable paper or reusable plastic bag 39' is provided with an elastic lip 40 whereby to easily and readily position the same on the frame 35', as shown in Fig. 3, when the scraper is being employed. Thus, the bag 39' will catch the scrapings 41 and prevent the same from dropping onto the floor while the scraper blade 28 is 7 being employed.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided a kit of tools which will simplify the task of redoing ceilings with the adjustable handles 10 permitting the tasks of scraping, and rolling the ceiling and edges from the floor regardless of height of the ceiling, to effect an economy of time and labor by eliminating the conventional step ladder normally employed. With handles 10 of lightweight aluminum or sturdy plastic, the neck and shoulder fatigue would be minimized. The screw-on connection between the rollers and scraper and the handle will provide additional strength to the connection. The wire frame attachment 35' and the bag 39' thereof are light in weight and would not be much heavier than the ceiling roller. The diameter of the bag should be sufiiciently large to catch all the peelings, this diameter need not be more than six or eight inches at the most.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 and 4, there is shown a modified form of the present invention including a scraper handle 41 suitably mounting at one end thereof a reactangular scraping blade 42, the handle 41 at the other end being provided with the internally threaded coupling 43 for connection to the uppermost of the handle segments 10. The handle 41 is provided with three longitudinally spaced mounting openings 44.

A scraping tray is provided and includes the forwardly and upwardly curved bottom wall 45 and the vertical rear wall 46, the lower edge of the vertical rear wall 46 joining the bottom wall 45 along a downwardly and forwardly curved portion 47. Vertical side walls 48 are provided. The scraper tray thus provided is substantially like a pelicans lower bill. The upper edge of rear wall 46 is integrally formed at right angles thereto with the rearwardly extending flange 49 having the laterally spaced, hollow, semi-cylindrical portions 50. A correspondingly shaped plate 51 is positioned on flange 49 and is provided with the cooperating laterally spaced, hollow, semicylindrical portions 52, the ends of the flange 49 and plate 51 being secured together by fastening means 53.

The cooperating portions 5%, 52 are adapted to receive therebetween the handle 41 of the scraper selectively by means of the wing nut assembly 5 positioned in one of the vertically aligned openings (Fig. 4). The portions 50 and 52 are provided with vertically aligned openings 55 aligned with the openings 44 of the scraper handle, as will be obvious.

In operation, for scraping the main body of the ceil ing, the scraper handle 41 is adjusted to the central frontrnost of the openings 55 by means of the wing nut assembly 54, that is at the front central portion of the tray. This allows for maximum reception of the peelings from front, rear, left and right, while scraping the main body of the ceiling. For scraping flush to the wall 56 (Fig. 4) to the left, the tray and handle are connected within the front leftmost of the openings 55, that is to the front leftmost position. This positions the scraper blade edge on a line with the left side 48 of the tray so that scraping may be done flush to the wall 56. The wall itself will act as a shield for any peelings flying to the right in this instance. For scraping in a righthand corner against the wall 57 (Fig. 4), the adjustment or connection is made at either the central most or the rearmost of the right hand openings 55, depending upon the angle at which the scraping is to be done, the purpose being to move the catch tray back a desirable distance so that the scraper blade can reach the extreme corner without the front end of the tray protruding too far to prevent this. The two intersecting sides of the wall will act as a shield for the peelings. Corresponding adjustments would be made for the lefthand corner.

The tray is designed to catch ninety-eight percent of d The longer length of the handle allows the worker to use both hands providing more leverage and to loosen the peelings more quickly and easily as well as eliminating the necessity of standing on wobbly step ladder.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A device of the class described, comprising, in combination, a plurality of elongated handle segments, means releasahly connecting the adjacent ends of said handle segments together to form a unitary handle of adjustable length for ceilings of various heights, scraper means, means for releasably connecting said scraper means to the uppermost one of said handle segments whereby to permit the scraping of the ceiling while standing on the floor, and collector means mounted directly below and being angularly related to said scraper means for collecting the scrapings as they are removed from the ceiling and to prevent them from falling on the fioor, said scraper means comprising a support handle, a substantially rectangular scraping blade secured to one end of said support handle, said releasable means for securing said scraper means to the uppermost of said elongated handle segments being located at the other end of said handle, said support handle having a plurality of lon gitudinally spaced mounting openings, said collector means comprising a tray having a forwardly and upwardly curved bottom wall, a substantially vertical rear end wall connected to said bottom wall, said walls connecting said end wall and bottom wall along the opposite longitudinal edges thereof, a rearwardly extending flange secured to the upper edge of said rear wall at substantially right angles thereto, said flange having a plurality of laterally spaced, longitudinally extending hollow mounting portions adapted to receive said handle therewithin, each of said mounting portions having longitudinally spaced, vertically aligned openings therethrough adapted to be aligned with said handle openings, and releasable fastening means for securing said handle within a selected one of said mounting members at a selected position therewithin whereby to permit the adjustment of said collector means laterally and longitudinally of the scraper blade and to permit the scraper blade to be used along walls and in corners at both the right and left hand sides.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 343,389 ONeill 6t al June 8, 1886 822,605 Henninger June 5, 1906 1,121,657 Parker Dec. 22, 1914 2,139,769 Oslund Dec. 13, 1938 2,146,317 Steinhilber Feb. 7, 1939 

